Theater Review: Ghost

Richard Fleishman, Cassie Levy and  Da'Vine Joy Randolph . Photo: Joan Marcus  

Technology Creates Ghostly Effects, but Goes a Little Too Extra on the Sensory
By Lauren Yarger
A hit movie that starred Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze and won an Oscar for Whoopi Goldberg is the latest story to transfer from the big screen to the little stage -- only Ghost does it big. Suspend your belief, the slogan urges us to do (like the characters in the story) and we can believe that a 20-year-old blockbuster movie can have an afterlife on Broadway. And it does. After a hit run in London's West End.

With unmemorable music and sometimes weak lyrics by Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard (Grammy-winning Pop music backgrounds) this version relies on amazing special effects rather than star power as its medium to the story of lovers separated by his untimely murder (designer, Rob Howell, illusions by Paul Kieve, amazing lighting by Hugh Vanstone, video and projection design by Jon Driscoll.) From the appearance of specters to their walking through doors and walls it's all stunning, very well done and executed on a scale larger than anything we've seen on Broadway. Director Mathew Warchus fails to rein in the creative team, however, and those projection effects run wild creating an assault on the senses.

There are dancing shadows, which follow along with actors doing Ashley Wallen's choreography, moving street shots and even walls of dancing crabs. The sequence on the subway cars also is overdone. It's all way too much and has you wishing you had brought a supply of Dramamine to the theater. (It reminded me of presentations in Power Point where the designer uses every single graphic transition, just because they can).

A lack of equilibrium makes it difficult to concentrate, but if you know the story from the movie, you'll be able to follow along. For the book, Bruce Joel Rubin (who also wrote lyrics) adapts his Academy-Award-winning screenplay and follows pretty closely -- most of your favorite scenes are in there and a little of "Unchained Melody" too.

For those of you who somehow missed the movie, banker Sam Wheat (Richard Fleishman) is murdered, but refuses to leave his love, Molly Jensen (Cassie Levy) to cross over into the light. She doesn't know that the one responsible for the murder is close by -- Sam's best friend Carl Bruner (Bryce Pinkham), who needs to find Sam's password to retrieve stolen money from an account. Sam enlists the help of phony spiritualist Oda Mae Brown (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) who finds she really can hear Sam's spirit, to communicate with Molly. (Fleishman and Levy reprise their west end roles).

Randolph is outrageously funny as the reluctant medium. Vocals are good (and I'll pretend it didn't annoy me that Levy has longer blond, curly hair instead of that cute little cut Demi Moore made famous).

Ghost suspends belief at the Lunt-Fontaine Theatre, 205 West 46th St., NYC. Tickets:  800-745-3000.

Christians might also like to know:
-- Language
-- God's name taken in vain
-- Theological issues: obviously we're talking ghosts here, ability to communicate with the dead, possession of a body by a spirit; implied that good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell.